The radical equality between and among us as believers in our access and relationship to God both shocked those who first heard Jesus preach it, and continues to startle and upset many today. At the time of Jesus, there were clear rules about hospitality and tribal responsibilities in the Jewish community. While charity had always to be shown to anyone, even strangers and enemies, when Jesus insisted that there was no distinctions between Jews and everyone else in the world, he called into question what it meant for them to be the Chosen people. That Jesus shatters the distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, and male and female made no sense, offended their understanding of the Torah, and even undermined their image of God.
Paul's letter to the Galatians is not saying that ethnicity, wealth and gender don't exist, but that everyone, without exception, can know, love and be loved by God equally. While those of us who profess to be Catholic Christians will continue to have our own rituals, prayers and spirituality is not in question. That others who have a different spirituality can approach God in their own way is the point of the text. There is no need to compare or contrast. Rather we must work for unity among all peoples in Christ, even those who do not profess his name. This is not to say that we should not announce the Good News of Jesus to all people, but there is no need to force it upon anyone. We must live in Christ and proclaim his love with our lives. In this way, Christ can be Christ and do his work.
Today, pray to put aside any distinctions that make one person better than another.
How can we foster authentic equality among us in God?
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